TRENTON
– Intervening to halt an imminent threat
to New Jersey’s public health and safety,
Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa today announced
a statewide ban on the manufacture, distribution,
sale, and possession of any of the hundreds
of dangerous, manmade chemicals designed to
mimic the effects of marijuana, commonly known
as “synthetic marijuana,” “K2,”
or “Spice.”

In
April 2011, New Jersey adopted a temporary
Federal ban on five variants of synthetic
marijuana. Pending State legislation would
ban three variants of the drug, and pending
Federal legislation would ban additional
synthetic marijuana substances.

However,
hundreds of variants of the drug have been
sold nationwide and in New Jersey, in defiance
of attempts to declare synthetic marijuana
illegal. According to reported data, between
2010 and 2011 the number of synthetic marijuana
exposures reported to poison control centers
jumped by 139 percent nationwide, and by
an alarming 711 percent in New Jersey alone.
Of the 146 cases reported in New Jersey
during 2011, 92 percent resulted in symptoms
alarming enough to require treatment in
a healthcare facility. A recent, nationwide
study funded by the National Institute on
Drug Abuse shows synthetic marijuana is
the third most commonly abused drug by American
high school seniors, after marijuana and
abused prescription drugs.

Attorney
General Chiesa noted that the ban, issued
yesterday by the Division of Consumer Affairs,
is much more comprehensive than previous
efforts to eliminate synthetic marijuana.
It includes both broad and specific language
that includes all possible variants of the
drug.

“This
expansive action is necessary due to the
unique nature of synthetic marijuana and
other so-called designer drugs. When one
product is banned, the manufacturers and
dealers find it all too easy to evade the
law by creating new toxic products that
have similar effects on the brain, but are
not specifically identified as illegal,”
Attorney General Chiesa said. “Today,
we are ending this dangerous game played
by drug dealers. We are making it unambiguously
clear that if a synthetic chemical is being
sold because it mimics the effects of marijuana,
the dealer is committing a crime.”

The
Order announced today bans ten entire classes
of synthetic compounds that imitate the
effects of marijuana, and all known or unknown
variants of the drug that would fall within
each class. The Order also expressly includes
“any other synthetic chemical compound
that is a cannabinoid receptor agonist and
mimics the pharmacological effect of naturally
occurring cannabinoids” – in
other words, any synthetic chemical that
mimics the effects on the brain of marijuana’s
active ingredient.

Effective
immediately upon being signed yesterday
by Thomas R. Calcagni, Director of the Division
of Consumer Affairs, the Order adds these
chemicals to the list of Schedule I Controlled
Dangerous Substances in New Jersey. As Schedule
I CDS, the drugs are now subject to the
highest level of State control, like cocaine
and heroin. Manufacture, distribution, sale,
or possession of the chemicals is now a
third-degree crime. Violators may be subject
to a fine of up to $25,000 and imprisonment
for a three- to five-year term.

“In
addition to equipping law enforcement with
the means to stop disreputable retailers
from selling this poison in New Jersey,
our Order sets the record straight about
the toxic nature of these chemical concoctions,”
said Director Calcagni. “To the extent
people once believed these substances were
safe because they were legal – we’ve
now made it perfectly plain that the sale
and possession of these drugs is criminal,
and their use is extremely dangerous and
potentially deadly.”

The
toxic ingredients of synthetic marijuana
can have devastating effects on the user:

Of the 146 cases of synthetic marijuana
exposure reported to the New Jersey Poison
Information and Education System in 2011,
92 percent resulted in symptoms alarming
enough to require treatment in a healthcare
facility.

Synthetic marijuana has been linked to
dangerous side effects including violent
seizures, dangerously elevated heart rates,
anxiety attacks, and hallucinations, according
to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Published reports indicate users have
committed suicide or suffered fatal injuries
after suffering extreme panic attacks
caused by synthetic marijuana use. Reports
published in peer-reviewed journals associate
synthetic marijuana use with psychosis
in some patients.

In 2010, the most recent year for which
comprehensive data is available, poison
control centers received reports about
five deaths nationwide associated with
synthetic marijuana.

More recently, 14-year-old Brandon Rice,
of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania,
reportedly died at Children’s Hospital
in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania on October
27, 2011, due to his use of synthetic
marijuana smoked from a Pez candy dispenser.
The severe damage to his lungs resulted
in four months of suffering, prior to
his death of an infection following a
double lung transplant.

Alarmingly,
despite the dangerous consequences of abuse,
synthetic marijuana is growing in popularity
as a drug of choice. In fact, according
to poison control center data, its reported
use has risen even more rapidly in New Jersey
than in the nation as a whole:

The New Jersey Poison Education and Information
System received 146 calls reporting exposure
to synthetic marijuana in 2011 –
an alarming 711 percent increase from
2010. Seventy percent of the synthetic
marijuana reports in 2011 originated in
Middlesex, Ocean, Monmouth, Morris, Mercer,
and Atlantic counties.

Nationwide, poison control centers received
7,000 calls related to synthetic marijuana
exposure – a 139 percent increase
from 2010, according to the American Association
of Poison Control Centers.

Synthetic marijuana is the third most
commonly abused drug by high school seniors,
after marijuana and abused prescription
drugs, according to the 2011 Monitoring
the Future Study, funded by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse.

Synthetic
marijuana is usually sold in small packets
of approximately 500 milligrams to three
grams, with brand names such as “K2,”
“K3,” “Spice,” “Kush,”
“Down 2 Earth,” “Comatose
Candy,” and many others. The packets
often contain a mixture of herbs and plant
materials that have been coated with chemical
agents that affect the brain. The products
are often labeled as “incense”
or “potpourri” in order to hide
their true nature from law enforcement.

Packets
of synthetic marijuana and other suspected
designer drugs have been sold at gas stations,
boardwalk novelty shops, and other locations
across New Jersey. The packages often bear
labels claiming the contents are not covered
by any existing federal or state ban, creating
the impression that they can be sold legally.

Data
from the New Jersey State Police Office
of Forensic Science illustrates how the
sellers of these drugs have changed tactics
to evade previous statewide and federal
bans.

The
Office of Forensic Science has tested hundreds
of samples of “K2” products
sent in by New Jersey law enforcement agencies
since November 2010. Until March 31, 2011,
virtually every positive test revealed one
of only five popular variants of synthetic
marijuana. All five of those variants were
banned by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
on March 1.

Test
results from the Office of Forensic Science
show the sellers of these drugs adapted
quickly in response to the new ban. Fewer
and fewer samples sent in by law enforcement
after April 1 tested positive for the five
banned chemicals, and the dealers rapidly
embraced 18 new variants of synthetic marijuana.
Those new variants of the drug today represent
nearly 100 percent of the synthetic marijuana
products identified by law enforcement in
New Jersey. None of the 18 new variants
are covered by a Federal or New Jersey ban.

All
of the products, however, are covered by
the Order of the Director announced today.

New
Jersey’s Controlled Dangerous Substances
Act authorizes the Director of the Division
of Consumer Affairs to classify a substance
as a Schedule I CDS through the promulgation
of a regulation, if the substance is found
to have a high potential for abuse and no
accepted medical use for treatment in the
United States. The Act further authorizes
the Director of Consumer Affairs to issue
an order classifying a substance as a CDS,
when the delays occasioned by promulgating
a regulation would constitute an imminent
danger to public health or safety. The Order
signed yesterday will remain in effect for
270 days, or until a regulation is adopted.
The administrative process of adopting a
regulation includes a public hearing.

Today’s
announcement follows the April 28, 2011
announcement of an Order by the Director
of the Division of Consumer Affairs, banning
a separate category of designer drugs –
the highly deadly group of drugs commonly
known as “bath salts.” So-called
“bath salts” are not synthetic
marijuana, but belong to another class of
designer drugs that mimic the effects of
cathinone – a psychotropic substance
found in the African shrub khat.

After
enacting the ban on so-called “bath
salts” drugs, the Division of Consumer
Affairs launched a statewide education and
enforcement initiative in partnership with
schools, universities, and police agencies
across New Jersey, resulting in the seizure
or voluntary surrender of a total of more
than 2,900 packets of suspected designer
drugs, with an estimated total value of
approximately $75,000, and the arrests of
six individuals allegedly dealing in the
banned substances. Data from the New Jersey
Poison Information and Education System
indicates a sharp drop in the use of so-called
“bath salts” drugs after the
State’s education and enforcement
action began.

For
much more information on the New Jersey
Division of Consumer Affairs’ initiative
to stop the use of synthetic marijuana,
so-called “bath salts,” and
other designer drugs, view the Division’s
website at www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov/designer.